The Seventh Apprentice
by cagedbird361
Summary: The first six of Ansem's apprentices became the founders of Org XIII. Their meddling with darkness gave them the power they so strongly craved, and they became Nobodies. And only the seventh apprentice was left behind to fade away with truly nothing.
1. Chapter I: Stranger by the Water

**Chapter I: Stranger by the Water**

_The moon shone wan on the black water, turning it into quicksilver in the single reflection while the rest was an ebony tar pit. The ebb and flow of the sea lapped up on the gritty sand, turning the dark grey a damp black along the shore. The formations of rock extended from the mainland out into the ocean, branching out like groping fingers blindly searching for a way out._

_It was the same with everyone who entered the Dark Meridian._

_So many entered and so many passed through. But even more faded. They would appear and wander aimlessly, searching for a purpose until they no longer left their footprints in the ashen sand. They passed on, simply dissipating into the air as if they had never even entered the in-between plane, and there was nothing left to indicate that they had ever existed. There had been so many, so many that had come and gone, so many that had appeared and faded, so many that no one would ever be able to know the exact number._

_She walked along the shore, just out of range of the Stygian surf. She had never entered the water for fear of what may happen: it was the liquid that gave life, but it was also the liquid that took it away. And nothing could ever be judged by earthly rules in the Dark Meridian. She slowly climbed over a large black rock, its sharp edges leaving no wounds in her feet; her body had faded enough for solid objects to sink into her slightly. She had been real once, a real person with a real body, heart, and soul. But that time had passed._

_She slid off of the rock and landed lightly on the sand, her feet barely making a depression at her lack of weight and she continued on. She kept her eyes down on her bare feet, every now and then kicking a stray stone or clump of sand that stood in her path. She clambered or stepped over the occasional rock formation, simply walking along with a blank mind. There was nothing else for her to do. It was the only thing that gave her purpose, the sand between her toes the only thing that reminded her that she was actually there._

_She paused and looked up, taking a moment to view the silver moon and dark sky, the inky waves reaching just before her toes. She felt empty as was usual, but her body felt lighter and lighter every day as she continued to fade. It was unlike the others who had come, those who had dissipated with haste and faded within a few days time. But she could never be sure how long it had taken them to vanish: it was always moonrise in the Dark Meridian and day was the same as night and minute was barely distinguishable from decade._

_The only thing that she was certain of was that she had lasted much longer than some, so long that it had become tedious. All she wanted to do was finally fade and move on to whatever plane she would venture to next, but her spirit was persistent and refused to release its last anchor on her body. But it would all soon be for naught. And she knew it. And she impatiently waited for that moment when she would be released from the prison of a silver moon, a sable surf, an ashen coast, and a fading flesh._

_She removed her absent gaze from the horizon and was about to continue her perpetual walk when she spotted another figure a short distance away. It was another girl, a girl that she had seen a few times prior, but they had never spoken or gotten close enough to one another to even exchange a glance. She was standing just before the waves and staring off into the ocean, the gentle breeze blowing her clothing out around her. She turned and locked the absent stare of the walker and began to approach. And the walker simply blinked and watched her near._

_They stood adjacent to one another and took in the other's appearance._

_One was a stately girl with eyes and hair of a matching cerulean with a short haircut. She wore a dark navy blue halter-top with two pink belts over her chest intersecting at a silver badge shaped somewhat like a heart. She wore white bell-sleeves starting at the middle of her upper arm secured by a piece of segmented armor and wore tan, fingerless gloves. She wore black shorts and black stockings that came to her mid thigh and left a section of her upper thigh bare. She wore two pieces of blue cloth that fell on either of her hips and trailed to her mid-calf along with a white cloth of the same length that hung behind her and was tied at her waist. Her shoes were armor-like, pointed, sliver, and bore a wicked scythe-shaped hook on the outside of each ankle. She was beautiful, her body strong and well shaped. And she carried herself with honor, an honor that must have come from her purposeful life before this eternal moonrise._

_The walker was far from a pretty warrior._

_Her eyes were black, as was her shaggy mop of hair, and she seemed transparent. She was not nearly as lavishly clothed or prideful in aura. She had death-white skin that contrasted sharply with her hair and eyes, her face gaunt and dark circles ringing her heavily lidded eyes. She was incredibly thin, her clavicles, cheekbones, knees, and elbows protruding harshly from her skin. She wore something akin to an oversized lab coat, but it was grey as opposed to the customary white, and the sleeves and bottom were torn and threadbare. It was open to the middle of her chest, exposing a black v-neck shirt that too was frayed and showed her sternum through her skin. She wore black shorts that had once been pants but were now loose, ripped, and torn like the rest of her attire. Her feet were bare and covered in dry sand grains from her constant walking. And there was a stubby pencil behind her right ear._

_"Hello," the blue-haired girl said. Her voice was light and musical, a tone so alien in the in-between realm that it seemed impossible that she could ever have been thrown into such a plane._

_"Hello," the black-haired girl said. Her voice was dry and rasped like autumn leaves, matching her disheveled appearance._

_They stood facing each other in silence, the wind tugging gently at their hair and clothes as if hoping to draw them into the mainland and beyond the mountains that surrounded the coast._

_"I've seen you before, haven't I?" the blue haired girl murmured quietly to herself. She lowered to the ground and sat cross-legged, turning her gaze to the murky waters. "My name is Aqua. What's yours?"_

_"I… I don't think that… I remember…" The walker looked out to the ocean as well as if searching for the answer._

_"Oh… Well, lots of memories fade here." Aqua looked back to the walker and patted the sand next to her. "Come and sit. You look tired."_

_"Yeah…" The walker landed lightly in the sand due to her lack of substantiality. She gave a great sigh and her shoulders sagged heavily. She pulled her knobby knees up to her chest and wrapped her bony arms around them as if trying to keep her dissipating entity together._

_"Do you always walk around like that? You've been here for less time than me, but I've never seen you stop."_

_"I walk to remind myself that I'm here. If not… I don't know. I've been here a long time, so… I guess I want to fade away, but… I don't like the unknown. I never have." She lowered her head to her knees and sighed heavily again, her body visibly flickering with the force of her released breath._

_"Do you remember anything about your life in the Realm of Light?"_

_The walker looked up from her knees to Aqua, black eyes locking her with a blank stare. "No… Wait… Maybe… I don't know." She looked back to the surf. "I did something bad… I think I know that much." She lowered one of her hands to the sand and began to draw a shape. "The Realm of Light…" she mused to herself. "Why does that seem familiar? Why do I feel like that's important?" She looked down at the shape she had drawn: a heart with three points at the end and two lines crossing through the middle. "Heartless…" She mumbled, furrowing her brow. "Do you remember anything about your past?"_

_Aqua was silent until she realized that the walker had ceased mumbling to herself and was now addressing the other. "Yeah. I remember everything."_

_"Lucky… What was your life like?"_

_"I was a keyblade master." Aqua began to draw her own symbol in the sand. "I fought along side my friends Ventus and Terra. But both of them… they struggled with darkness. I lost both of them in the end… and I did everything I could to save them, but I gave up myself to save Terra. That's how I ended up here. I'm still waiting for the day when I will be saved. And I know one day that someone will set me and the others free."_

_"You really believe that? You think that you can get out of here?" The walker's eyes were wide, pits of the void ready to swallow any hope that may be offered._

_"Definitely. My friends and I will be saved… Some day…" She looked down at the symbol beside her, a five-pointed star-like shape with the same heart-like badge on her chest in the middle: a good-luck charm made out of seashells._

_The walker rested her chin of her sharp knees. "It would be great to get out of here… But I don't think that I'll last long enough for salvation." She lifted one of her hands, holding it up towards the moon and easily seeing the silver orb through her flesh. "That name… Terra… Why is that familiar…? And the keyblade… They remind me of something I can't remember…" She lowered her hand and looked back to Aqua. "How is it that you remember? And why aren't you fading?"_

_Aqua slipped a stray strand of her sapphire hair behind her ear. "I don't know. Maybe it's because I have hope. Maybe it's because I have a strong heart. Maybe it's because someone will save me one day. Or maybe I have someone protecting me from losing myself."_

_"Lucky…" the walker murmured again. "I think I tried to save someone once… or several people. I think that's how I ended up here… I think."_

_"Are you remembering?"_

_"Yeah. A little. It's as if just being beside you has unlocked a door to my mind that I thought had disappeared, and it's slowly being opened and everything is coming back to me… I think."_

_Aqua smiled gently. "Opened a door? I think I find that rational." Aqua rested her hand gently on the walker's back, careful not to be too harsh on her frail body. "What do you remember?"_

_"Names… but not my own… I never went by my real name. I always used a nickname for some reason. I don't know why."_

_"What names do you remember?"_

_The walker's body shuddered and she winced, and Aqua was abruptly able to see a hazy image of the rock formations at their side. "It's hurts to remember. But I do. They were called… Dilan… Aeleus… Even… Braig… Ienzo… and… Xehanort…"_

_Aqua jumped back suddenly, eyes wide and shimmering in the moonlight. "Xehanort?! You knew Master Xehanort?!"_

_The walker looked at her blankly. "Master? No, no one called him master. Not behind his back, at least… And there was another name… It was… Ansem…"_

_"Who are you?" Aqua had lost the concerned note in her voice and was glaring accusingly at the walker. "Just who are you?"_

_"You mean who was I, right?" Aqua was not amused by the correction. "It's hard to remember, but… Ansem had… apprentices. I think that… I was one of them. The seventh… one that was barely recognized, but I did too much wrong for any pride to come from the title. We were… monsters… That's all that can be said."_

_"You were one of Ansem's apprentices?" Aqua was now staring in wonder._

_"Yeah… but no one knew of me… Yeah, that's right. I remember it now." The walker looked down at her hands and tugged at the lab coat. "I think I get it now." She looked shocked, as if learning something about her life that she had never known about, as if a nasty secret had just been spilled. "Xenon."_

_"What?"_

_"My name… that's what they would call me. Xenon. Like the element." She clasped her hands onto the sides of her head, tangling her fingers into her hair and burying her face into her knees. "I remember them now… I remember _everything_!" Her gaze flashed up, her black eyes flaring with a hidden light that shown like the bloodlust of a dangerous animal. "What have you done?!"_

_Aqua rose to her feet and backed away. But the other girl slumped to the ground flat on her back, staring up at the starry sky. She began blinking rapidly and Aqua noticed that tears were starting to slide down the sides of her face until they were lost in her hair. Her black eyes reflected the sky immaculately, as if the ebony orbs had transformed into little mirrors or vacuums ready to drain away and take anything they saw._

_"Xenon? Are you okay?" Aqua murmured softly, kneeling at the girl's side._

_"No," she whispered. "I should have saved them… I could have stopped them… I could have protected them where Ansem couldn't… But I didn't… and now… they've faded."_

_"Tell me what happened, Xenon. Before you fade, put your mind to rest."_

_"Yeah… I guess that's the only thing that I can do… I mean, times isn't really on my side is it?"_

_Xenon closed her eyes from the stars and inhaled deeply, but the tangy scent of salty air and warm wind was absent on the beach. Only sorrow and forlornness saturated the air. "They were the only friends I had… yet they were my worst enemies… We were all against each other; we were all fighting for approval. And we all wanted to be noticed. And I was one of them. I was the seventh apprentice. I was the one that was mocked and ridiculed… I was the one that tamed the darkness yet held a deathly fear of it as things began to fall to pieces… But I continued because they were the only people that I could hold on to. I was the one that was left behind."

* * *

_Author Note: Hi everyone. So here's a new story that I thought up a while ago and just decided to write up. So, yeah. This chapt is kind of like a prologue. I'll get around to posting that "actual" start of the story soon. But I already have writers block '-_- This story is going to take place during KH Birth By Sleep, so if anyone has questions, PM me or review with a question and I will answer the best I can. And I'm going to do my best to keep it parallel to the timeline of the story. And review, please! I like reviews ;) tell me how I did 'cause I want to know. I think all writers do. I own nothing except Xenon, my new OC. So i hope to post a new chapter soon. The story may start slow, but it will get better so please bare with me. Peace out.

-cagedbird361


	2. Chapter II: First Encounters

**Chapter II: First Encounters**

Radiant Garden. It lived up to its name.

Any flower, any plant, any type of shrubbery or vegetation existed within the boundaries of the world in all its glory. Colors were vivacious and near blinding in the sunlight, flowers and leaves shimmering like the many facets of a cut gem. The climate was rarely inhospitable, only ever raining or stormy when the plant life required watering to survive. The buildings and other man-made structures were made out of nature as much as cement and plaster, and the landscaping was always immaculate. And on warm days when the sun shone pleasantly down on the paradise, the aromas of thousands of flora and fauna would ascend and fill the air in a fragrant dance that could intoxicate the senses wonderfully.

But some citizens were far more content to view the gorgeous world through a window.

"Why must _I _go?!" His green eyes widened in horror. "You know I have the most frightful allergies, Master! Why not send Braig? He's your errand boy most of the time anyway!"

"Enough, Even."

There was instant silence from the apprentice.

"You often complain that I never give you an assignment, but the moment I give you the opportunity, you only complain." Ansem leaned back in his large chair and bit at his Sea-Salt Ice Cream. "Do you want the job or not, Even? I trust that you're competent enough to retrieve a schoolgirl. Or I _should_ I give the task to Braig?"

"N-No, sir!" Even stood straighter, puffing out his chest. "I can go. It is not a problem. Braig could never be trusted with children, that oaf!"

_Neither can you actually_, Ansem mentally muttered. "Do you know were Ienzo is. Even?"

"Ienzo…?" Even's vibrant emerald eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Oh! He's, ah, most likely down in the lab. Yes, that's defiantly where he is."

"Are you sure?" Ansem's golden-orange eyes bored deeply into Even's, causing his apprentice to begin to tremble.

"O-of c-c-course, s-sir!"

"If you can't handle Ienzo, then you can't handle this assignment."

"Please, sir! I can handle it! You can't send anyone else! Braig would end up shooting the girl, and Dilan and Aeleus would frighten her away! And you don't allow Ienzo to leave the castle."

"You do have a point…" Ansem finished his ice cream and examined the stick, disappointed that it was blank. He opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a folder, slapping it onto the surface of his desk and letting slide towards Even. "She's a freshmen at the local high school. Fifteen years old, blue hair, violet eyes, and a knack for science. And from reports from her teachers and the people around her, she's into the eccentric. And we can't have that kind of knowledge go untrained, now can we?"

"No, sir. I guess not." Even opened the folder and sifted through the papers within. There was a picture of the girl, no doubt from the school, along with every report card that she had ever been issued. And all were the same: excellent marks in all fields of math and science, and terrible scores in literature and history. The other classes had average marks.

"Find this girl, her address is inside, and tell her that I wish to interview her."

Even looked up from the folder, blinking in surprise. "Is that wise, sir? I mean, after Xehanort, is it really necessary to take anyone else in? After his talent, anyone else will be a disappointment."

"I'm fully aware of that," Ansem steeped his fingers and gazed off into space thoughtfully. "But I don't want someone of this girl's caliber conducting experiments without guidance. She's several years younger than Xehanort, and I feel that she has potential. It's just an interview, Even. And don't get territorial. I have a place for all of my apprentices. Now go. I want to meet with her before the day is out."

Even collected the folder and exited his master's office with a brisk walk. _Oh yes. A place for all of your apprentices._ He cast a glare backwards to the closed door behind him. _But those places are of varying distances from your inner circle, master. I hope you realize that._

She sneezed violently, rubbing her watering eyes. Radiant Garden was a wonderful place, unless allergies plagued the senses of a person. And no medication could fully counter the effects of the pollen-thick air.

"S'matter, Xenon? Gettin' beat up by a bunch of flowers? You _are_ skinny enough for a plant to punch your lights out after all." The two boys descended on either side of her, one leaning casually on the back of the bench she was sitting at while the other hovered to his left.

Xenon glared back at the speaker, wiping the moisture out of her eyes in annoyance and pushing her glasses back up to their proper place on the bridge of her nose. She met the vibrant blue-green gaze of her heckler, his grin showing off nearly all of his white teeth.

"Seriously. How old are you, Lea? Fifteen or five?" Xenon turned her head to the side and sneezed again. Even though it was autumn, there was no end to the pollen that drifted through the air.

Lea loudly scoffed, rolling his eyes and glancing back to the other teen behind him for support that was not given. He turned back to Xenon. "I'm the same age as you, remember? We've gone to school together since kindergarten. But really, who in Radiant Garden has allergies? You should be immune to this kind of stuff. Right, Isa? Back me up, will ya?" Lea turned to face the other teen, planting his hands on his narrow hips.

Isa quirked one of his eyebrows at his friend before rested his gaze on Xenon, his expression belittling. He spoke very infrequently, but his actions more than made up for it.

"Allergies stem from when an unknown object enters the body that it does not recognize. Unlike you and a lot of other people here, my body sees pollen as a foreign substance and it fights it off once I come in contact with it. And—" she stopped speaking as a sneeze rigorously shook her body. She readjusted her glasses as they had slid down her nose from the force of her sneeze.

"Listen, weirdo, I didn't need a textbook explanation." Lea threw Xenon a glare. "I didn't need an explanation at all, as a matter of fact. Got it memorized?" He tapped the side of his head with his index finger. "So you can just go hide in a classroom and read your textbooks like the geek you are."

"Sorry to disappoint you, Lea, but I don't bite the heads off of chickens."

Lea blinked in confusion, raising one of his slim eyebrows. "Excuse me?"

"A geek. The term is coined from a circus freak that would bite the heads off of chickens and other live animals. And I assure you that I have never partaken in such an action."  
"Ew. That's disgusting!"

"She's correct though, Lea. That _is _where the term comes from." Isa folded his arms over his chest with a nod, tilting his head in the direction of the redhead.

"What, so you're siding with her now? This friendship is so sad." Lea sighed but quickly unsheathed two Frisbees and held them out to his sides before swinging them around the tops of his fingers. "Are you sure that you want to get on my bad side? You know that's just about the worst thing that you could do. Got it memorized?" He grinned mischieviously.

"Jeez, Lea." Xenon pushed her bangs out of her eyes as she shook her head. "Does your confrontational spirit know no bounds?"

"Are you a friggin' dictionary? Does your mind always think like one of those philosophers we learned about in Literature class? Not that I pay attention, but… Really?"

"You should show more respect. I'm certainly going to prosper more in this life than you will."

"So what are you going to do? Get the mathletes to attack me?" He sheathed his Frisbees and pretended to be frightened, shielding his face with his hands. "Oh no! They're gonna cut me with their protractors! Help! They have rulers! I'm gonna get spanked!" Isa let a grin cross his face as Lea dissolved into peals of mocking laughter. "Well, we gotta bounce, right Isa? Places to go and people to see. Got it memorized? See yah, Xenon. Wouldn't want to be yah!" The two walked off, Lea cracking a series of jokes and playfully punching Isa's arm or nudging his shoulder. And Isa just smirked, the perfect balance for his spirited friend.

Xenon took a deep breath and sneezed from the amount of pollen that she inhaled. _Lea is so foolish. But he's lucky that he doesn't have to worry about everything I do. He has the chance to be a kid. I don't. I'm expected to be the well-educated adult. And that has as many disadvantages as it has advantages._ She shook her head and collected her books, neatly organizing them into her satchel. Slinging it over her shoulder, she made her way through the flower and tree-lined streets, covering her nose and mouth with the sleeve of her shirt to minimize her pollen inhalation.

She walked through the populated streets, slipping between people as they went about their daily lives. She wove through the complex tangle of streets, following the shortest path to her house, a path that she had perfected from years of attempting to stay out of the pollen-saturated air for as little as possible. Avoiding the main street, she stepped over a well-trimmed gardenia bush and walked briskly through a small side street lined with azalea bushes in full bloom with red, pink, and white blossoms. Xenon held her breath.

She quickened her pace, turning several corners and moving deeper and deeper into the outskirts of the city to where the foliage was far less lush. The bright paint dimmed from the houses, the shades becoming deeper and darker. Lime became evergreen, azure became navy, pink became maroon, yellow became mustard, and lavender became violet. There were fewer streetlights on the corners, unlit in the daytime, but the entire aura of the area of the city was ominous.

Xenon continued down one of the gloomy streets, the houses leaning against each other as the root-strewn ground was poor for support. She picked her way through the snake-like protrusions, knowing the pattern well from traversing over them countless times. Her eyes were down, assuring that she would not trip or get her foot caught on any root that might have shifted, knowing that she was nearing her house. She turned down her front path and pulled a keychain from around her neck, unlocking her front door after ascending the steps.

The house was empty and dark, no lights lit except for the few electronic devices that were always plugged in. Xenon glanced down at her watch in the light of one of the windows. _Three thirty. I have two hours until my parents get home._ She quickly shut the front door and locked it behind her, scurrying about the house and closing all of the curtains around every window. Once satisfied that the area was dark enough, she walked to the back of the house and fumbled with the keys around her neck. She slipped a skeleton key into a door under the staircase and descended into her basement, a chill crawling up her spine. And it was not only because of the decrease in temperature.

She felt her way down the stairway, trailing her hand down the wall, and reached blindly for the single light switch hidden in the pitch-blackness. She found the slight protrusion and flicked it on, blinking from the sudden illumination. The basement was her secret, not even her parents were fully aware of the sort of experiments that she conducted. Notebooks were scattered with loose pieces of paper on different tables, each table specified to one section of her experiments. Some tables contained beakers or burners, one contained a cage of white mice, and another contained a series of vials filled with liquid of various.

But, even Xenon would admit it, she could not specifically identify what she was studying.

Pushing her glasses higher up on her nose, she set her satchel down at the base of the staircase and moved to the table with the caged mice. There were ten of them, active from the sudden light that was present in their usual darkness, and Xenon knelt at the table to better examine them. She pulled a notebook forward, removing the pencil that she always kept behind her ear and hastily wrote the date. She picked up one of the flashlights that she kept at each table and further studied the mice.

_Day 17_, she wrote in the notebook. _Change is nigh nonexistent in any subjects. Only three of the ten show any sort of alteration: a slight discoloring of their eyes. Unlike the normal red present in white mice, their eyes seem to have begun turning an amber color. Something like yellow or orange. Most vexing._

Xenon focused her flashlight and shone it on one of the three with amber eyes. It began writhing, frantically clawing and gnashing its small teeth, attempting to run away from the beam of light. She did the same with the other two and received the same result.

_All three subjects resist light. Reason:_

She paused, her body tensing. Her mind whirled, searching for a rational explanation. She looked from the mouse to the flashlight she in her other hand, and found that she could only admit defeat.

_Unknown._

She hated it. She hated the single word more than anything else. It was a sign of ignorance, a sign of obliviousness. She had prided herself with always possessing the answers when it came to such things. And Xenon hated being bettered by the science or logic.

She tucked her pencil back behind her ear and opened the top of the cage. She reached down and neared on of the amber-eyed mice, only to pause and observe. Unlike the others that scampered away to the opposite side of the cage, the one mouse stood its ground and bore its teeth. Xenon quickly documented the increased aggression. She thoughtlessly left her hand within the bars of the cage as she wrote, only to feel a sharp pinch on the end of her index finger.

She gave a gasp and dropped her pencil in surprise, withdrawing her hand rapidly. The amber-eyed mouse was looking at her, almost daring her to attempt to catch it again. Xenon glanced down at her finger, seeing two puncture wounds from where she had been bitten. Blood slowly bubbled up from the spots and trailed down her finger, dripping down onto the table beneath her.

And her fingertip turned black.

She gasped again, suddenly feeling as if her chest was being crushed. She stumbled back from the table, her back running into a nearby wall. She clutched her chest with her uninjured hand, feeling her throat constrict. She wheezed, sliding down the wall, eye wide with horror.

And she felt angered. Despaired. Betrayed. Anguished. Envious. Everything that had ever been done to her, every negative action that she had ever been met with came to the surface of her mind. And her chest tightened, feeling as if it would collapse in on itself. And she could not breathe, like a dark blanket was smothering her, like a demon was sitting on her chest. There was a roaring in her ears, a monstrous bellow that reached her very core. It filled her, clamping a cold hand around her being, a sensation that made her body quake. She looked around wildly, the lights warping in her vision as they twisted and bled together. The shadows seemed to leap up, growing and writhing in a macabre dance. Hands seemed to reach towards her, groping but unable to touch before recoiling and receding into the ebony mass in which they had stemmed from.

And her eyes found the mouse. It was staring at her, amber eyes brightening to a vivid shade of yellow. It was at the edge of the cage, scratching at the bars and squeaking and squealing. It was trying to escape, trying to get to her, trying to be free from its confines. And Xenon could swear that its claws were growing, that the mesh of the cage was slowly being raked apart.

The lights above her flickered and Xenon gritted her teeth. She felt as if she her body would cave in on itself, as if the weight on her chest would crush her flat. Her violet eyes caught sight of her bitten finger, of the ebony discoloration that had traveled to her palm.

_No! Stop this! Leave me alone! Stay away! I don't want this! LET ME GO!_

Silence. There had only ever been silence. The roaring in her ears was suddenly stifled the way an electrical machine dies once the cord is pulled. And the icy vise released her chest, the pressure evaporating as if it had never been present. Xenon gasped, gulping air that she had been denied as her chest heaved with its newfound mobility. She slumped against the wall, previously unaware of how rigid she had been, and laid down on the ground, pressing her cheek against the cold stone floor. Every edge of her body burned with white-hot icy pricks, a tenfold worse version of pins and needles.

She felt her glasses slip off of her face as her body shuddered with her breathing, her eyelids becoming heavy. She cast one final glance up to the table, seeing the one mouse had succeeded in clawing a hole through the mesh. But it was now laying motionless at the edge of the table, eyes once again pink. And Xenon closed her own eyes, releasing a sigh before drifting off into exhausted sleep.

-:-:-:-:-:-:-

"Xenon!"

Her eyes flew open with a gasp.

"Get up here! There's someone here to see you!"

She sat up abruptly, instantly regretting the action as the blood rushed out of her head. She blinked through her blurry eyes and felt around for her glasses. She shoved them on her nose once they were located, and looked around in an attempt to remember why she was on the floor of her basement.

Nothing seemed out of place. She rose to her feet slowly to prevent any more vertigo, and looked at each of her tables in turn. The only difference she found was that there were only nine mice in her cage and the tenth was nowhere to be found. There was a hole in the mesh as well, which she quickly bent closed, puzzled by how the mouse might have caused such a rend. And she noticed a mark on her right index finger.

Two minute scars that had not previously been there were on either side of the pad of her finger. She rotated her hand, examining her skin for any other marks when she was interrupted.

"Xenon! I said get up here!"

She jumped at her mother's voice and hastily scampered up the steps, needing to turn back to grab her satchel and turn off the light. She emerged from the basement, shaken for a reason she did not know, which bothered her, and she looked to her mother. The middle-aged woman stood with her arms folded over her chest, her brow furrowed.

"H-hello, mom," Xenon mumbled breathlessly. "You said that someone was here?"

"Yes. He's in the living room." She scrutinized her daughter carefully. "What were you doing down there? You look like you've seen a ghost."

Xenon was fully aware that she was trembling. Her mind was slowly beginning to remember flashes of the odd episode, but her memory was as foggy as her eyes without her glasses. "I'm fine, mom. So who is this person? I never get visitors, so…"

"Just come and see. And prepare yourself. With your interests, you might just pass out."

Xenon blinked in confusion and followed her mother towards the front of the house to the living room. And there, sitting on the couch, was a tall man with long, sandy blonde hair and vibrant emerald eyes. He locked her gaze and Xenon gasped, eyes widening in shock.

"No way. You're… You're…" She thought back to a magazine article that she had read several years ago, an article of Ansem the Wise. And the man before her had been in the article as well, an assistant in a major discovery. The sharp cheekbones and slightly crazed smirk were difficult to forget. "Even."

* * *

Author Note: I had a ridiculously difficult time with this chapter. I rewrote it at least three times... and I'm still not entirely satisfied... Anyway, I've had a veeeeeery busy week and I'm going to have an even busier week 'cause I'm in my school play and the performances are this week. I barely had time to write this, so updates may be scarce in the near future. But don't give up on me please! And I want to see if anyone understands why the title is plural... review please! They make me soooooooo happy and I've been having terrible writer's block... so please give me a much-needed boost! Love to all my readers and reviewers! Peace out.

-cagedbird361


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